The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-07
A SUGAR MAKING PLANT.
THE ADVANCED PROCESS As USED
DOWN IN LOUISIANA.
Why Sugar Planters Are Losth to Give
Up the Old Ways Of Making Sugar.
Mysteries OF sucrose and Giucose-rhe
..r.otrf(.,raI

"Centrihgai.''
The Magnolia sugar house is generally
known In Louisiana as having the best
machinery and all the new processes. IL
Is not much initiated, for two reasons;
First. the conservatism OF the older class
of planters, which leads them 10 stick to
the methods they understand, and second,
the fact that the business of sugar max
ing has not been sufficiently profitable In
recent years to enable planters OF moder-
ate capital to purchase new apparatus.
They are obliged to hold on to their old
pans and kettles for want OF money 10 buy
new. Let us now 90 into the great irregu-
lar brick building, with its three tower
like chimneys and its general big factory
air. which contains the sugar making
plant. promising at the start To go through
hastily. aud not to bore the reader with
details about machinery. or with the fine
scientific points OF the business. A sugar
planter will talk to you by the hour
about percentages OF sucrose and glucose,
inverted rehabilitation, degrees OF vac
uum and polariscope tests, until your
brain takes III only confusion OF words
and figures. First the owner OF "Magno-
liza" calls attention to his bagasse burner,
which makes more than half the steam
used 10 run the mill Formerly the
bagasse, which Is the cane after II has
parted with rs much OF its jsice a. the
mill will extract, was either burned In u
furnace 10 get rid Of IL or thrown out hl
the levee to help fight OF the river from
eating away the bank Now every eco
nomieaHy managed mill burns 1t to make
steam by the aid Of the draught Of
an enormous chimney. The best method
is 10 burn II on the CRATES, under which
air is forced By blower
The canes, hauled in the bss carts from
the fields, are dumped upon M endless
band AMI carried into the null, usually
direct 20 the big iron rollers, bat nj Mag
nolia first 10 a shredder There are
only two shredders in the St,Ge, the LA
chine being new invention. Its revoly-
ing teeth chew up the cane into pulp
I The pulp AMI juice fall upon II rubber
apron which carries them To- the mill,
grinding Is simply squeezing between
three or four sets Df iron rollers. Now
the Juice runs IN u trough 10 II strniner,
wnere woman gathers up now and then
the shrcds OF cane remaining ami taxes
them back t. the mill Next the juice il
pumped into en iron cylinder called
| the Juice heatsf" and hs,tcd with *
haust steam 70 $50 dogs. This Is new
process not nizeh in use. Next It runs
| into the clariiieFs or deiecatOts, which are
| large iron watts with rows Of stctnn pipes
| at the bottom. Here Stacked quicNiime IL
added, which brings to the top AL impurl-
| ties. to be skinned Off into a division or
the pan al the end The juice i then
| boiled and ~brushed" with a long paddle
until the bubbles become Whine, when ii Is
allowed tn settle for fifteen minutes
| There Is a side operation for saving the
sugar IN the skmmnngs by putting them
through litter presses.
In tAe advanced process at Magnolia
| the jaio5 next goes through bone black Ill
| ters instead Of to the ordinary settling
tanks, 20 settle for six or seven hours.
| / 1iter is big iron drum contain
ing 10000 pounds OF animal bone
| black The char must be washed with
hot water every two days and dried IN u
| kiln After filterIng the juice, still thln
AS when first pressed from the cane, goes
| To the double ehecas" THIS II new
| apparatus, resembling two upright boilers
I of a portable engine. Each cupOla Ike
! machine contains i've hundred tubes ia
! which the Juice is boiled Ia "A vacuum by
exhaust steam The usual plan Is TO boil
1 in an open cylindrical pan, having coils oil
steam pipe at the bottom. Now the juice
| goes to fresh filters and next 10 the va
! cuum pan, which IS not pan,
| but big iron cupoA shaped cylin-
| der, with an apparatus for eXhaustin5
the air ami multitudinoas coils OF steam
pipe TIds is the process requiring most
I skill. The chief sugar maker attends to
! it himself, watching his vacuum gauge
aud thermometer carefully, and testing
| every few minutes his boiling mass by
| drawing out tube which does not break
! the vacuum.
lie seeks 10 keep the temperature down
% 1870 dogs II it is too high some OF the
sureose will "inyert" or caramel intO
| glucose, ana the proportion Of sugar VIII
be lessened First he nils the pan only in
| part. Then when lac sees fine granuia-
lions vi sugar against the light IN his test
| tube he adults more Juice, and thus builds
up the grains little by little to larger size.
When sufficiently boiled the thick syrup
| Is called the uidsSt NultCs Lie oAiihc
Is now done, air is admitted 20
the pan and the contents are run
OF into the "mixer "a huge Oblong
iron pan in which steam arms reyolye.
| Next tho 'masse cutie" falls into the
"centrifpgals, which are smeu drums
holding nbout 120 pounds of sugar.
| Within the drum is Il wire screen basket
revolving ut the rate L. 600 turns per min
ute. The centrifugal force throws out the
molasses through the wire network and
leaves the sugar. Perfectly clear water Is
then spurted into the drum from a syringe.
This water is thrown out through the
sugar, washing out the remaining
coloring matter The motion Of the
centrifugal IL now stopped and the
\ sugar let out OF trap in the bottom
into screw conyeyer, from which q
bucket band Is carried TO big bin. a
man stands in the bin and shoyels the
sugar, as II it we're wheat, into tube I'M
der which the barrels are placed one by
one to receive IL.
This first product Of the sugar mill
J is called "Grsts" and Is the whitest
aud best sugar The molasses Is